A collection of useful documents from various sources around the internet.

To gain a better understanding of the industry’s resilience the FCA surveyed 296 firms during 2017 and 2018 to assess their technology and cyber capabilities. The survey looked at key areas such as governance, delivery of change management, managing third party risks and effective cyber defences. Firms self-assessed their capabilities and the FCA then analysed the responses for each firm and across sectors.

Despite the scale and impact of the problem, it is widely agreed among policymakers, academics and law enforcement officials that fraud and the harms it causes are not prioritised by the police. This study is intended as a response to this imbalance between the scale and impact of fraud and the response it receives from policing. Its aim is to achieve a better understanding of the police response to fraud, to consider how appropriate this is and to suggest how policy and practice could be improved.

Technology remains a key theme of this year’s survey, bringing both opportunities and challenges. The challenge for many is in moving technological developments from research and piloting into full scale implementation. Cyber- attacks are becoming increasingly common and Boards now see this as a much greater and real risk to their business. This presents a major threat for the legal sector, as firms hold significant client funds and information that is attractive to fraudsters and other criminals.

The main categories of serious offences include fraud, money laundering and other economic crime, bribery and corruption and cybercrime. Economic crime is a broad category of illegal activity, including fraud, corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion. There were 3.3 million fraud incidents in the year ending June 2018, amounting to almost a third of all crimes. The overall scale of economic crime is estimated to be £14.4 billion per year, with the cost to businesses and the public sector from organised fraud no less than £5.9 billion per year.

This report provides an overview of cryptoassets and the underlying technology, assesses the associated risks and potential benefits, and sets out the path forward with respect to regulation in the UK. It brings together existing work and new analysis carried out by the Taskforce, and has benefited from the contributions of stakeholders across the DLT and cryptoasset sector.

Two years have passed since the NCSC became fully operational and this review provides a snapshot of their work over the period 1 September 2017 to 31 August 2018 highlighting the progress made, the challenges overcome and the threats faced particularly the sustained threat from hostile actors. NCSC outline plans for the future and the successes achieved, in the second year, to deliver an ambition to make the UK the safest place to live and work online.

The Code for Crown Prosecutors is a public document, issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, that sets out the general principles Crown Prosecutors should follow when they make decisions on cases. The revisions to the code include considering disclosable evidence pre-charge, more stringent conditions on how The Threshold Test is applied and a greater focus on CPS role in recovering proceeds of crime.

Website related cyber-attacks remain in the top three categories of the most commonly reported breaches, which include fraudulent emails or being directed to fraudulent websites, impersonating an organisation in emails or online and viruses, spyware or malware. In helping Law Society members to understand more about cybersecurity, this whitepaper examines the potential vulnerabilities of websites; the types of hack, signs that a site has been hacked and their impact. It also suggests practical ways in which to reduce the likelihood of, and to mitigate, attacks.

The threat from fraud is ever changing. Fraud the Facts 2018 shows the extent and nature of the challenge faced – and one which the finance industry is committed to tackling. Fraud is an issue that affects the whole of society, and one which everyone must come together to tackle. The fact is financial services industry can’t stop all fraud on its own. We all need to work together across the public and private sector, because as a combined force we can stamp out fraud and the criminals behind it.

The purpose of this report is to help law firms understand current cyber security threats and the extent to which the legal sector is being targeted. It also offers practical guidance on how they can protect their practice. The cyber threat applies to law firms of all sizes and practice, from sole practitioners, high street and mid-size firms, in-house legal departments up to international corporate firms. There are several factors that make law firms an attractive target for cyber-attack – they hold sensitive client information, handle significant funds and are a key enabler in commercial and business transactions.